Ariana Grande has had an enormous amount of public sympathy in recent years. The turning point was the Manchester Arena terrorist attack, where terrorists set off pipe bombs during Ariana’s 2017 concert. Twenty-two people died and over a thousand people were injured. Ariana was beyond devastated, and she was extremely brave to return to Manchester after the bombing, to raise money for the families and support the community. Ariana had so much goodwill after that. And… it’s kind of over. Ariana dumped her husband Dalton Gomez and carried on with Ethan Slater, a man with a wife and baby at home. Ari blew up this guy’s life just because she was bored in London, working on Wicked. Speaking of, Ethan Slater has now filed for divorce:

Ariana Grande’s boyfriend wants a totally clean slate going into his new relationship with the singer … filing to divorce his estranged wife. According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Ethan Slater decided to legally end things Wednesday with Lilly Jay … filing divorce papers in New York. We don’t yet know the specific reason Ethan’s listed for the split.

Ethan and Lilly were high school sweethearts — getting hitched back in 2018 — and welcomed a son together last year.

[From TMZ]

The divorce news came just hours after TMZ posted this story, where Ethan’s wife Lilly Jay is refusing to go quietly. Lilly is telling people that she feels like Ethan abandoned his family as he’s entered a full-blown relationship with Ari:

Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater’s romance came as a surprise to the Broadway actor’s now-estranged wife who feels he abandoned his family … TMZ has learned.

Sources close to Lilly Jay — who married Slater back in 2018 — tell us she’s devastated her family’s been torn apart. She’s also upset their young son, who was born in August 2022, won’t have both his mom and dad around constantly, now that they’ve split.

Our sources say Lilly and Ethan aren’t on good terms now that the Ariana relationship is full steam ahead. We’re also told, for her part, Lilly feels like he’s completely turned his back on his family.

What’s more, we’re told Ariana actually used to hang out with both Ethan and Lilly while they were still a happily married couple, and she even liked his Instagram tribute to Lilly on Mother’s Day this year. Remember, we’re told Ariana and Ethan’s romantic relationship started several months ago. The whole thing has left Lilly feeling betrayed and heartbroken … according to our sources.

Additional sources close to the situation tell us, “It’s understandable that emotions are high and it’s hard seeing your ex move on, especially in such a public way, and her friends are trying to protect her. But Ari and Ethan are just trying to lay low and be respectful of their exes as they pursue this new relationship.”

[From TMZ]

Other people were making this point on Twitter (X): Ethan blew up his marriage for a woman who barely stays in relationships for a year at a time. It could be that Ari will pull a Full Miranda Lambert and make a big show of sticking this one out for a while. But I doubt it. Ethan also sounds like a total douchebag, my god.

Photos courtesy of Instagram, Avalon Red, Cover Images.